


a folded letter

by benkrupy



Category: Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, birthday fic, yosukes birthday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:01:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24881965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/benkrupy/pseuds/benkrupy
Summary: yosuke hasn't celebrated his birthday in years. there's been no need to. but when yu insists on hanging out, a confession threatens to drop.
Relationships: Hanamura Yosuke/Narukami Yu, Hanamura Yosuke/Seta Souji
Comments: 7
Kudos: 98





	a folded letter

Yosuke glanced at his clock. 11:53pm, nearly a new day. He sat awake in his bed, eyes starting to get weary. But he would not fall asleep, he was determined. Usually Yosuke didn't like making a big deal out of his birthday. No one had really cared about it for years now, so if he got excited he was just setting himself up for disappointment. No presents, no well wishes, just the aching loneliness of feeling forgotten. This year, however, was going to be different. For the first time in forever, he was looking forward to what the day would bring. 

* * *

A week ago, Yosuke had been sitting in class when a tap on his shoulder revealed Yu, who had appeared before him. He had his hands in his pockets, and looked slightly nervous.

“Weird question,” he asked, “but when’s your birthday? I heard Chie comparing all our ages, and yours seemed like it was close.”

Yosuke grinned, “June twenty second”, he replied, then frowned, “but why’s it important?”

At this Yu’s face seemed to go into some sort of shock. “Yosuke, your birthday is in  _ three days _ ?”

“Yeah?” 

“How am I supposed to throw you a proper celebration with  _ that little  _ prep time?” Yu seemed genuinely distraught, eyes widened. He furrowed his brows, as if trying to solve a difficult maths problem. The dilemma of a short birthday notice.

But Yosuke was in shock. Yu? Celebrating his birthday? He cared that much? I mean, he knew Yu cared about him to some extent. After all, he did let Yosuke call him partner, and seemed to tolerate his general presence, unlike most other people in his year. But to go out of his way like that? It had been so long since he had gotten more than a complimentary gift from his parents, he didn’t know how to react. 

“Yosuke? You okay?” Yu had bent towards him, his face a blanket of concern for Yosuke. He had gotten lost in thought. Yu had leaned so close to him in his efforts to check on Yosuke that he could nearly count the eyelashes on his eyes. His mysterious eyes, a grey so beautiful and full of depth that he could stare into them forever- 

He shook his head. No. He wasn’t going to do this again. Looking up, he grinned at Yu, “I’m fine Partner, don’t worry about me. Just a little surprised you wanted to go to that much effort for my birthday, that’s all.”

Yu seemed confused, “But why wouldn’t I want to celebrate your birthday?”

He shook his head, “It’s not that, I’ve just never really had anyone celebrate it with me before.”

At this, Yu’s gaze softened somewhat, and he opened his mouth as if to say something; but before he could, Yosuke interrupted, “Aw, don’t go feeling sorry for me,” he smiled, “It’s not that big of a deal, really. I’ll be happy with just spending time with you.”

Yu smiled back, but looked slightly uncertain. He wasn’t lying though, he really  _ would be _ happy to just spend the day with him. Every moment spent with Yu felt special to Yosuke, he wasn’t sure why, but was glad nevertheless. 

“Well regardless, prepare for a great day, ok?” Yu smiled, and turned to leave, “Sorry, I have basketball practice.” But on his way out he paused, and turned around and said, “Hey Yosuke? Stay up till midnight the day of your birthday.” Yosuke nodded, and Yu left. 

* * *

Yosuke checked the clock next to him again: 2 minutes to go. He felt butterflies rising in his stomach. He wasn’t sure what Yu had planned for him, but whatever it was, he couldn’t wait for. This was a feeling he only got when Yu was involved. He felt like he was walking on air, yet sinking at the same time. He always managed to make Yosuke laugh, rain or shine. He was ever thankful for him.

12:00am. Yosuke’s birthday. Immediately, his phone buzzed. Reaching out to grab it and check the notification, he saw it was from Yu. He grinned, opening the message. The butterflies in his stomach had reached a new extreme, but he forged ahead. 

_ Hey Partner. Happy Birthday!!!!!!! (I used lots of exclamation points, just for you.) We’ve only known each other for about a year now, but it’s been the best year of my life. You’re my partner, and my closest friend, and I’m so glad we met. Clear your schedule, because from the moment the bell rings, your time belongs to me. I have a gift for you too, but I’ll give it to you then. Get some sleep and see you tomorrow. Love, Yu. <3 _

Yosuke read through the message once, twice, three times, a grin on his face practically large enough to reach his ears. Yu sent him a birthday message! They were spending the day together tomorrow! There were so many things to rejoice about from that one simple paragraph. And of course, the end statement made a huge impact. The words echoed around Yosuke’s head.  _ Love, Yu.  _ He had said love! He didn’t even care about that part of his brain that was throwing up at all this right now. He was over the moon. And the heart. He had included a heart. Did Yu really love him? He meant it in a platonic way, right? No. He said he  _ wasn’t  _ going to stress about this stuff today. So he wouldn’t. Anything that really bugged him that much would be postponed until tomorrow. 

Yosuke realised that it had been 5 minutes and he still hadn’t responded to Yu’s birthday message. He looked down at the text box, and grinned again as the heart caught his eye.

_ aaaaaaa thnk u thnk uuuu ptnr ilyy <3 see u tmrw!!!! cant wait :D  _

And he really couldn’t. He didn’t even care if he got the most generic card in the entire world or a single smile from Yu. He knew he cared, and that was more than enough in his eyes. 

_ im gna sleep now so i can b rested 4 tmrw so sleep wellll _

_ Goodnight, Yosuke. _

Yosuke smiled to himself, chucking his phone on the floor and curling up in bed. Tomorrow would be a good day.

* * *

It was the last period of the day, and Yosuke sat at his desk, bored out of his mind. The teacher was droning on about adverbs or something. Whatever it was, it was too boring to listen to. So to pass the time, he thought back to the rest of his day. Surprisingly, the others had actually wished him happy birthday. Chie even let him rent another one of her kung fu movies. A risky move, considering what happened to Trial of the Dragon last time, but he appreciated it nonetheless. 

And Yu. God, Yu had been so nice to him all day, it made him feel like he’d ascended to the next plane. He was greeted by a huge smile when he walked into class that morning, a rare feat from him, who usually came across as a lot more “cool and collected”. He had even brought in boxed lunch for the two to share up on the roof together. It might’ve been Yosukes imagination, but he sensed Yu sit closer than usual to him too. 

He didn’t know what this mysterious “gift” Yu had mentioned in his text was yet. That was what he’d be getting after school when him and Yu hung out. He glanced at the clock. Only a few minutes left to go. He rested his head on his desk and zoned out. Who really cared about English anyway?

A nudge on his shoulder brought him out of his stupor, and he turned to see Yu, who looked rather happy.

“You ready to go?”

“Oh yeah sorry!” Yosuke shook his head, as if to shake off any remainder of the lesson in his head, “I couldn’t stand another minute of that class, man. What is an adverb anyways?”

Yu chuckled, “I’d explain, but it would completely ruin our afternoon.”

“Then  _ please _ don’t explain, I want to have a good day,” he laughed, “By the way, where are we going? Junes?”

At this, Yu creased his eyebrows in mock concern, “You think I’d take you to your own family's store on your  _ birthday? _ I don’t seem that bad at planning do I?”

He was right. Yu really wasn’t the time to half ass anything. If he wanted to give Yosuke a good day, then that’s what he was going to do. “So where are we going then?” He asked.

But the other boy only smiled, “It’s a surprise.”

“Well alright then Partner, I trust ya,” he grinned, “Let’s go.”

**  
**

* * *

Yosuke wouldn’t have ever been able to predict the place Yu brought him. 

“You said this place was special to you the one time we went up here, remember? You talked about looking down at the city and hating it but slowly starting to love it and, well, I was hoping this could add on to that good memories here list.” Yu’s ears were a bright red, and his cheeks slightly flushed. Was he  _ blushing? _

“Yu, this is amazing. Thank you, really.” And he meant it. What other person would have thought to do this? They were on the hill overlooking the Inaba, sitting on a cliched checkered blanket Yu had brought, along with some food. It wasn’t from Junes either, it looked all homemade. This was truly something special to Yosuke, and just thinking about the situation for too long made him want to cry. This was all for him. Because someone thought he was special. He felt wanted, more than he’d ever done in a long time. 

“Partner, you okay?” Yu was looking at Yosuke with a hint of worry in his eyes, clearly scared he’d messed something up in the execution of his birthday idea. He needed to stop zoning out, it was becoming a bad habit.

“Yeah, I’m fine, sorry.” Yu didn’t look convinced, “It’s just- this is all so  _ nice. _ I haven’t gotten so much as a birthday wish since I was like twelve, so yaknow, it’s very overwhelming.” He nervously laughed.

Yu studied Yosuke, his expression unreadable, “Since you were twelve?”

Yosuke quickly tried to backtrack, he didn’t want to be seen as pathetic, “Nah I mean, I got some gifts from my parents every year, so that counts right?”

“Your friends didn’t say anything.”

“They didn’t know. I think I told them once but y’know how guys are. And besides, it would’ve been weird, I dunno.”

“Is this weird?”

Goddammit Yu. Always making him seem so socially inept. The thoughts in his head always seem so eloquent, but when he’s around Yu, that all just melts away.

“No no,  _ this  _ isn’t weird at all. But that’s because you’re my…” He trailed off, unsure if he should continue. He said he was going to push away any of  _ those _ thoughts, but they just kept creeping back in. If he let himself truly be, yknow, like that around Yu, what would everyone say? 

“I’m your..?” Yu looked into Yosukes eyes, and he saw something hopeful in there. Hopeful for what? 

“My partner,” Yosuke confirmed, “You’re my partner, and you mean way more to me than my city friends do. You care about me more too, probably.”

Yu shifted his hand forwards on the blanket, as if seeking something, “Not probably. I care about you a lot Yosuke, you know that right?”

And he did. He knew Yu cared about him more than anyone else he’s known, but the insecurities and second thoughts always worked their way back in his head. But fuck it. So what if people judged him? So what? It’s not like they cared in the first place, Yosuke was practically bottom in the hierarchy of Inaba. Even if it killed him, Yosuke was going to act like himself.

He reached out and grabbed the hand that had no-so-shadily slid towards him and smiled, “I do, Partner. I really do.”   
  


At this, Yu flushed red again, and Yosuke felt butterflies rise in his stomach. He was so cute. They sat like that for a while, handholding, until Yu suddenly sits up. Yosuke shot him a questioning look, until he saw the two items he pulled out of his bag: a small velvet-y looking bag, and a letter. “Your gifts,” he said shyly. 

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot about gifts,” he sat up, “I would’ve been happy with just spending time with you, honestly. Today has been the best.”

“Yeah well, I suppose you could say your day is about to get even better,” He had a mischievous, albeit slightly nervous grin on his face as he handed the bad over to Yosuke. 

He held the bag in his hand. It wasn’t very huge, smaller than his palm. Yanking on the drawstrings, the bag opened, and out fell a miniature bike onto his palm. A model? No, a charm. It was a bicycle charm, and looked almost exactly like the falling apart pile of junk Yosuke himself had at home. 

“I would’ve gotten you a real bike, but those are expensive. So I thought this would be a nice alternative. And it already looked like your bike, so it was an added bonus.”

“Thank you, I love it.” And he meant it. The gift was so thoughtful, so charming. He leant over to his own bag and started fishing around. Eventually, he came up with his house keys, and immediately attached the new charm. He grinned at Yu, “Now it’ll be with me everywhere.”

Yu went bright red again, for the third time. Yosuke’s grin widened, who knew Yu could be so expressive.”

“Oh, um, I have another gift for you,” he looked nervous, his eyes slightly lowered. That was odd, Yu almost always kept full eye contact at all times. 

Yosuke’s eyes widened, “Huh? Something else?”

“Well yeah, but it’s not like a  _ gift _ gift, y'know. It’s more of a question? I dunno,” His hands shook as he picked up the letter next to him and handed it to him.

Yosuke frowned. He’s never heard Yu this nervous before, he could barely form a sentence. Even in the more stressful situations they’ve been in, he’s always managed to keep a cool head. He wondered what could be in the letter that was so scary to him. 

“Um,” Yosuke raised his head to look at Yu, “I wasn’t sure  _ if  _ I was even going to give this to you so, like, yeah,” He tried - unsuccessfully - to give a carefree shrug. 

Yosuke gave Yu a warm smile, then looked down at the letter in his hands to study it. It had neat crease lines on it, from where it had been folded in his bag. He had to admire Yu’s ability to keep things neat. If this was in his bag, it would’ve been a crumpled ball lost under his books by now. He looked down at the letter, and started to read.

_ Yosuke, _

_ I’ve been staring at this paper for over an hour now, trying to figure out what to write. Usually I’m pretty good at this stuff, but this time I’m drawing a blank. To be fair, I always seem to draw a blank when it comes to you. You’re so great, you just wipe my mind clean. That’s a compliment, by the way. Argh. This is hard. I was debating whether to give this to you or not, but know that you in no way need to feel pressured by this, it’s just a thought. I guess. I guess I should get to the point of this letter, huh?  _

_ I’ve liked you since the first day we met. I wasn’t sure about your stance on, y’know, especially after Kanji, but I’ve decided I may as well ask regardless. Because I have a hunch you don’t fully agree with what you’re saying. I’m still procrastinating this, haha. The question is: Hanamura Yosuke, will you be my boyfriend?  _

Yosuke’s hands went numb. Boyfriend? As in dating? But he was a guy. That’s wrong, right? No. That was the voice in his head coming up again, wanting to shame him, making him hate himself. It wasn’t wrong. If he was being honest, he felt the same way about Yu too. He had for a while now, he just hadn’t wanted to admit it. But all this time, and Yu had liked him back? Damn. He didn’t know what to think, what to do. He looked up, and saw Yu’s face. It was practically a bedsheet, he’d never been so pale before. A smile was frozen on his face, but it looked more like a nervous tremor than anything. 

And that’s when Yosuke knew.

Who cares if the town hated him? Who cares about that stupid little voice in his head? Who cares? Yu made him happy, so happy. So shouldn’t it be natural to want to be with him. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with Yu regardless, so why not date? Isn’t that essentially what he’s been wanting this entire time, but was just too scared to admit it. 

He grinned, “Yu, look at me,” Yu obeyed, although he looked like he was trying way too hard not to bury his face in his arms, so Yosuke moved forward to hold his hands. This seemed to startle Yu a bit, but he grabbed his hands back. “Yu, partner, I completely know why I seem like a homphobic dumbass sometimes, but I swear that’s not the case. It was never an issue for me, I just had, um, some conflict in my head,” Yu’s eyes were locked on his, “Anyways, uh, I like you too. I like you a lot, Yu. So yes. Yes I will go out with you.”

Yu stared at him, looking like he’d just been hit full force by a bus. But slowly, the realisation set in, and a grin formed on his face, accompanied by turning bright red. He launched into forward, hugging him tightly, “Thank  _ God,”  _ he said, “I don’t know what I would’ve done with myself if you said no.”

Yosuke grinned and hugged him back. When they finally pulled apart, they gazed into each other's eyes for a while. An unspoken exchange happened between the two, and when they leaned in, their lips met. It was a kiss of promises, first love and summer. And for the first time in years, Yosuke could genuinely say he enjoyed his birthday.

**Author's Note:**

> hey!! i know i'm a day late for his birthday, but i didn't expect this to turn out this long (plus i'm a huge procrastinator lol). regardless, i hope u enjoyed!


End file.
